The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act would create new 29,869 acre Roderick Wilderness area on Kootenai National Forest
by LibbyMT.com
August 13, 2009
In July, Montana Senator Jon Tester introduced the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2009, a bill intended to sustain the economic development and recreational use of National Forest and other public land in Montana, create more wilderness, release some wilderness study areas, and designate some new recreation areas. The bill would change management priorities on portions of the Kootenai, Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Lolo National Forests.
On the Kootenai, the bill would create the new 29,869-acre Roderick Wilderness Area east of Sylvanite in the Yaak area. The boundary of the Roderick proposed wilderness is 33 feet north of the centerline of Seventeenmile Creek Road. The bill would also create a 48,292 Special Management Area with special restrictions on use and access, and 25,982-acres designated for snowmobiling northwest of Libby.
Selected highlights in the proposed bill include:
- the permanent protection of certain backcountry areas by creating new designated Wilderness areas, including the new Roderick Wilderness Area in the Yaak Valley which would not allow mining, logging, snowmobile or ATV use.
- generate a more predictable flow of wood products for local communities of the State by setting a maximum allowed acreage targets for logging each year.
- to permanently designate areas for motorized recreational opportunities in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, the Lolo National Forest, and the Kootenai National Forest for ATV, mountain bike, motorcycle and snowmobile use.
- mandates the U.S. Forest Service to carry out minimum timber harvests over a 10-year period, 70,000 acres on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and 30,000 acres on the Kootenai National Forest.
- create the new 48,292-acre Three Rivers Special Management Area which would not allow mining or mineral resource extraction. This new special management area would restrict snowmobile use to the designated `NW Peaks Snowmobile Area' and the `Mount Henry Snowmobile Area'. Logging would be allowed only on limited "stewardship" areas. No permanent campgrounds would be allowed within this area. Cattle grazing would still be allowed on grazing allotments within this area.
- The use of mechanized and motorized travel would be prohibited within the Three Rivers Special Management Area in the areas designated as `NW Peaks Backcountry', `Murphy Mountain Backcountry', `Mount Henry Backcountry', and `Roderick Backcountry.'
- Conduct an All-Terrain Vehicle Study which would look at opportunities for expanded all-terrain vehicles routes and trails across the Three Rivers District and adjacent areas on the Kootenai National Forest.
- The bill's designations for wilderness on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest include:
Anaconda Pintlar Wilderness Additions, 56,680 acres.
Dolus Lakes Wilderness, 9,367 acres.
East Pioneers Wilderness, 76,7775 acres.
Electric Peak Wilderness, 4,653 acres.
Lee Metcalf Wilderness Additions, 18,950 acres.
Highlands Wilderness, 20,392 acres.
Italian Peaks Wilderness, 29,508 acres.
Lama Peaks Wilderness, 35,120 acres.
Lost Cabin Wilderness, 5,223 acres.
Mount Jefferson Wilderness, 4,465 acres.
Quig Peak Wilderness, 8,388 acres.
Sapphires Wilderness, 53,327 acres.
Snowcrest Wilderness, 89,798 acres.
Stony Mountain Wilderness, 14,261 acres.
West Big Hole Wilderness, 44,084 acres.
West Pioneers Wilderness, 25,742 acres.
The bill has several designations on the Lolo National Forest:
The Bob Marshall and Scapegoat Wilderness Additions, also called the North Fork Blackfoot-Monture Creek Addition, 71,378 acres.
The Grizzly Basin of the Swan Range Wilderness Addition, 7,599 acres.
The West Fork Clearwater Wilderness Addition to the Mission Mountain Wilderness, 4,501 acres.
There are designations for land managed by the Dillon Office of the Bureau of Land Management:
The Blacktail Mountains Wilderness, 10,667 acres.
The Centennial Mountains Wilderness, 23,256 acres.
The Farlin Creek Wilderness, 661 acres.
The Ruby Mountains Wilderness, 15,504 acres.
And there is a designation for land managed by the Butte Office of the BLM, 8,892 acres to be called the Humbug Spires Wilderness.
Click on this link to track the progress of this bill: Progress of Forest Jobs and Recreation Act of 2009
There are no co-sponsors for this bill.
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